PISCATAWAY, New Jersey, Oct. 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/. IEEE, the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity, announced today that Stephen Welby will become its executive director and chief operating officer (COO), effective on January 2, 2018.

"Stephen Welby has the experience and passion to lead IEEE into the future," said Karen Bartleson, IEEE president and CEO. "He is a dynamic leader with a strong commitment to IEEE's mission. Working in collaboration with the Board of Directors, Stephen will help ensure that IEEE is universally recognized as the voice of the global technical community and an essential contributor to the development and implementation of emerging and disruptive technologies."

"I am honored and excited to have been selected to join IEEE as executive director and COO," commented Welby. "IEEE is an organization that works worldwide to support broad communities of technical professionals. I am looking forward to working with the IEEE leadership, membership and professional staff to increase the global impact of IEEE, support our members and further the IEEE mission."

Most recently, Welby served as the US assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering. In his role of chief technology officer for the US Department of Defense, he led one of the largest research, development and engineering organizations in the world. His technical experience includes development of leading edge aeronautical and space systems, robotics, machine learning, high-performance software, and sensor systems.

IEEE and its members inspire a global community to innovate for a better tomorrow through its more than 423,000 members in over 160 countries, and its highly cited publications, conferences, and professional and educational activities. IEEE is a trusted voice for information on engineering, computing and technology, globally. IEEE sponsors more than 1800 annual conferences and events and publishes nearly a third of the world's technical literature in electrical engineering, computer science and electronics. IEEE is also a developer of international standards that includes the prominent IEEE 802® standard for local, metropolitan, and other area networks, including Ethernet and Wireless LAN (Wi-Fi®).

About IEEE

IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE is the trusted voice in a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers, and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power, and consumer electronics. Learn more at http://www.ieee.org